


The jungle childs

by abandai716



Category: Frozen (2013), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tarzan - All Media Types, The Jungle Book - All Media Types, The Lion King (1994)
Genre: Apes & Monkeys, Backstory, Childhood, Danger, F/M, Fights, Forests, Friendship/Love, Raised Apart, Wolf Pack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2020-05-19 04:33:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19349587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abandai716/pseuds/abandai716
Summary: Elsa the man-cub was born as a human and raised by wolves, Jack the ape man was also born as a human but he was raised by gorillas. Although they both act different, they are quite the same, even more than they think.





	1. Elsa the man cub

It was a sunny day outside, birds chirping, antelopes grazing happily and fishes were just swimming around.

If you look at it, you'll probably think that the jungle was just like any other jungle, but that's where you are wrong. 

There was a little bird pecking the ground searching for food, but what that little birdy didn't know was that someone was stalking him. 

But it wasn't alone, there were actually 3 more and they were getting closer. "Okay, target in sight, are you ready?" Simba asked.

"I was born ready." Said Bala.

"Ready when you are." Said Gray.

"Okay, on my mark, three, two, on-"

"Wait, where is Elsa?" Bala interrupted Simba.

"Wait do you mean? She's right-" Simba looked around, but she really wasn't around. "What the... where is she?"

The three then hear someone fall and struggle to holding something "Guys, I've got him!" Elsa said, holding the bird. 

"Aww, come on Elsa we're supposed to work as a team, remember?" Said Bala.

"I know, but the three of you took too long, so I decided to hunt for myself." Elsa giggled.

"So what are we going to do with it? Are we going to eat it?" Asked Gray.

They all look at each other and then back at the bird "Nah, even if we did there's no way that something this small can fill my tummy even a little bit." Answer Elsa.

"Same with me." Said Bala and Simba at the same time.

Elsa released the bird and it flew away "So what do you want to do now?" She asked. 

"I was thinking of... Get the man cub!" And Bala tackled Elsa to the ground.

Simba and Gray also started romping with her "Not fair, you didn't give me a head start!" Elsa laughed. The little cubs were playing around like there was no danger in the world, "Hey, let's explore some more of the jungle." Elsa suggested after a while.

"Okay, first at the waterfall." And Gray sprinted away and the others followed him.

The 4 played together and sometimes they even explored the new parts of the jungle "Hey, where shall we go next?" Bala asked.

"Maybe the buffalos, maybe they let us drive around on their backs." Gray says enthusiastically.

"Riding on them is fun, but only when they are not trying to resist." Said Simba.

"Yeah, I don't wanna end up like Elsa." Bala laugh.

"Come on, you told me you wouldn't talk about that anymore."

"Calm down Elsa, I'm just teasing you." They all stopped when they heard rustling sounds from the bushes. 

Elsa sniffed the area around her "Oh no, he's here!" They all started running and a growl came from the bushes and a black panther jumped out of it. 

Elsa ran as fast as she could but she couldn't keep up with the others, doesn't matter if she was on fourth or two legs, so she had to think of something quickly or the panther would catch up to her. 

She climbed a tree and went from branch to branch and it worked for a while, but panthers were also good climbers and it wasn't long before he was at the same height as her. 

Elsa jumped on a branch, but then it suddenly broke, causing her to fall. She tried to get up as quickly as she could, but before she could continue running, she was pinned down by the panther. 

He showed her his teeth ready to chop down on her, but then he stopped "You do know that wolves don't hide in trees, right?" He says as he got off of her. 

Elsa sighs "I know Bagheera, but I can't keep up with them on the ground, if I hadn't chosen the wrong tree, I would have escaped from you." 

"Well, the tree that broke down when you jumped on it was a dead one."

"How was I supposed to know it was dead?"

"It had a fig vine. Any tree girdled by a creeper is either dead or close to it."

The other three cubs came back "Ha, Elsa got captured again." Simba laugh.

"How long did it took this time?" Asked Bala also laughing.

"You shouldn't laugh at her, if it wasn't for her, I'd would've probably already caught one of you instead of her." Said Bagheera, the lion and the wolf cub both stopped laughing "Anyway, your sense of smell is getting better Elsa, you were the first to know it was me." 

"It's wasn't that hard actually, were you only here to test us?"

"No, your mother asked me to pick you all up." Says Bagheera as he walks away, Elsa jumped on Bagheera's back, Gray and Bala followed them.

"Bye Simba, see you tomorrow!" Gray called.

"Bye!" Said Simba "Hmmm, let's see what Timon and Pumbaa are up to, maybe they can help me get those delicious caterpillars.

After a while they were finally back at their pack, Elsa, Gray and Bala went immediately to their mother Raksha who was already waiting for them "Mommy!" Gray dashed over to her.

"There you three are, had fun today?" Raksha asked.

"Oh yes we had, until Bagheera came to get us." Says Elsa as she sits down.

"Did you got caught again?" She asked.

"Yeah, but I lasted longer than last time, my sense of smell even gotten better."

Raksha smiled "Well, that's good."

"Hey Elsa, let's chase some mice." Said Gray.

"I really don't feel like playing anymore Gray, maybe tomorrow."

"Alright, hey Bala you want to come?"

"I'm always in, hey let's ask Lali if she wants to come too." Said Bala.

"Good idea." And they both dashed off.

"Did you really didn't feel like playing?" Asked Raksha.

"I wasn't lying, I'm just really tired from all the exploring today, I think I'm going to sleep early." Elsa laid down and closed her eyes.

"Alright, if that's what you want, good night then Elsa."

"Good night mom." And she drift away in her sleep.

Elsa was just a baby when she was found by Bagheera, he found her all alone near a cave. Bagheera didn't want to leave her there, but he also didn't really want to look after her because he didn't know much about parenting, so he brought her to the only ones he could think of who could take care of her, the wolves. 

Although she was a different species, Akela the alpha wolf, still allowed Elsa to stay with them treating her like their own cubs. 

Raksha was the one who took care of her the most. She made Elsa into a fine wolf, well, as good as she could make a human child. 

That Elsa doesn't know much about man does not mean that she is stupid, actually she is pretty creative and also very good at improvising. 

She can make many things that are very useful to her such as: plant ropes, wooden bowls, stone tools, you name it, she makes it. She loves making those kind of things and she is very good at it.

The wolves call it her _"tricks"_ and tell her that she isn't allowed to use her tricks because it is not the wolf way. Elsa found it really annoying that she cannot use them even though sometimes she makes it automatically without thinking, so she usually uses them when she plays in the jungle, away from the pack. 

Every day is an adventure for her, but soon she will realize that she will have one of the greatest adventures of her life, and also a scary one. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short, but this is just introduction. The chapter where I will post the story will be a long one.


	2. Jack the man ape

Running through bushes and over many obstacles, Jack ran like crazy on his four legs, a hairy shadowy creature with one eye was after him roaring. 

After a few jumps, Jack fell from a small cliff onto a baby elephant taking a shower in a small water pool "Tantor run, a beast is coming!" 

"A beast?!" And Tantor started to run away with Jack on his back.

Jack couldn't stay on Tantor's back for long because he fell off, with a bit of luck he managed to grab Tantor by the tail and his body was dragged over the painful ground. 

The shadowy creature continued to haunt them, he then suddenly appeared before them, Tantor screamed and started running the other way "Hey, that's not fair, you can't ride someone!" Says the beast, he then came out from the shade and showed that it was Terkina this whole time. 

Tantor kept running, Terk rolled her eyes and followed them, it wasn't long before she managed to catch up and jump on Tantor's back "Hey Jack, what are you doing?" 

"I don't know, I'm just chilling while I'm being dragged! What do you think I'm doing?!" Says Jack sarcastically.

"Is he still coming?" Tantor asked, he then stumbled over a large tree root, so that not only himself fell, but also Jack and Terk. 

The two immediately fell to the ground while Tantor fell a few feet in front of them crashing against a tree, his head was spinning "Wow Tantor, are you okay?" Jack asked. 

"Wait a minute, there is no beast is coming." Tantor realized. 

"Of course not, Terk pretended so that I could practice running for my life, I'm still too slow. If I don't get any faster, who knows what would have happened if I were being chased." 

"If I was a beast, you'd probably be digested by now." Terk joke.

"First of all, that will never happen and second of all, I was not that bad." 

"You are the worst ape I have ever seen." Terk laughed. 

"Well, good thing I'm not an ape, right?"

"Can you not involve me in this game? You know I get scared easily." Said Tantor. 

"Sorry, I had to think quick." Jack chuckles.

"Look it from the bright side, if you were being chased you would've out run them, unlike mr slow mo over here." Said Terk.

"I know I can get you."

"No you can't."

Jack then jumped at her roaring as he tried to catch her, but Terk moved out of the way "Miss me." She simply said. 

Jack did it again and again but he continued to miss, and so Jack's other training sessions began "I know something bad is going to happen." Said Tantor. 

Jack chased Terk through the jungle, but she really knew how to challenge Jack, such as, she can easily climb from bamboo plant to another while Jack couldn't really do it well because he didn't have long arms like her. Terk walked easily over a rope, while when Jack tried he did not even reach the center before he fell, but luckily he grabbed the rope just in time and continued climbing upside down. 

Terk laughs as she continued running, Jack went on following her, he finally saw that she was on the other side of a tree that was very far away "Come on Jack, you can make it!" Terk shouted at him. 

_Don't worry, if Terk can do it, so can I._ He looked up and saw a few branches strong enough to carry him, he took a few steps back and ran as fast as he could and made a high jump. 

He was so close but only his fingertips made it, he fell down a few meters and landed on a sloping hill, he rolled down and was stopped by a giant rock. He thought it was over, but then the rock suddenly broke and Jack now surfed down the hill on the rock. 

Jack saw that there were three gorilla babies in front of him, he reacted quickly and took all the infants on the rock at the same time without hurting them. He was now surfing with the babies on the rock, one of the child was on his face so that he could not look ahead, Jack tried his best to get him off of his face "Jack, tree!" Terk Yelled. 

Jack finally manages to get the baby off and looked in front of him, he saw a big tree root and the rock bumps into it. He and the infants flew through the air, Jack landed in a small wet mud pool while all the other three babies landed safely on a large leaf that laid them gentlely on the ground. 

Jack and the babies laugh, but then the mothers of them came "Are you all right? Are you hurt? Let me see." Says one mother.

"What is the matter with you? He's only a baby." Said another mother angrily.

The three mothers walked away with their child in hand, Jack rolled his eyes of annoyest "Nice work. Almost wiped out half a family, I'm impressed." Said Terk chuckling.

"Don't overreact, I just had some fun with them, those mothers don't know anything about that." 

"I can imagine that Kerchak is like _You almost killed someone, you will never survive the jungle and bla bla bla._ " She imitated, she then grunt in the same way Kerchak always does.

"You do know that you are making fun of the ape who wants me dead, right?" Said Jack a little bit angrily.

"Okay sorry, I was just trying to cheer you up."

Later that night Jack was being tucked in with a giant leaf by his mother Kala "Did you had fun today?" She asked.

"It was awesome! Me and Terk were playing hunter and I ended up surfing from a hill with a big rock, and Kerchak didn't try to kill me this time." Jack said lying sideways while not looking at her. 

Kala sighs "Jack you shouldn't say something like that."

"But mom, I just want to play around all day without being scared that he's gonna attack me." Jack turned around. 

"You know I won't allow him to do that."

Jack smiled at her "I know you won't." She kissed him on the head "Good night."

He closed his eyes "Good night mom." He said back.

Jack was still a young baby when he was found in a treehouse by Kala, his mother was already dead, probably by a disease. And his father was attacked by a leopard. The leopard luckily didn't find Jack, his crying was the reason that Kala could find him, she loved Jack as if it were her own son. 

But there were male apes who hated Jack so much that they tried to kill him, especially someone like Kerchak. The only reason Jack is still alive is because of Kala, she protected him against not only Kerchak, but also against all the other gorillas who tried to kill him. 

When Jack was very young, he didn't dare to go anywhere without his mother, now he does, but he's still too scared to play close to a male gorilla. So when he plays with his friends, he always plays far away from the troop as possible, but not too far. At least, most of the time he doesn't, cuz sometimes he does go too far away.


	3. Danger

**Jump a few months ahead** It was a sunny day in the jungle, Bagheera ran through the jungle with Elsa on his back who was about 11 years old. 

She laughed and cheered as the wind went through her hair. While Bagheera was walking, Elsa managed to get a mango from somewhere and ate it, Bagheera walked under a small waterfall and Elsa held out her hand and let the water splash on her hand. 

"Hey Bagheera, where are we actually going? I've been riding you for a while already." She asked as she took another bite out of her fruit.

"We're looking for prey because I'm gonna learn you how to hunt."

"But where are the others, don't you have to teach them too?"

"Well, you're special so you're getting a special training just with you and me."

"Okay, sounds fun."

A few moments later and Elsa lay low among the large leaves and tall grasses with Bagheera, the leaves rustled a little every time they came closer and closer to the male antelope "Hunting is sacred, it's our right, but we we never do it for sports." Bagheera whispered. 

When the antelope wasn't watching, he successfully went for the kill. Elsa wanted to eat it immediately, but Bagheera stopped her "Wait, wait." He says, panting. "We'll look them in the eyes first so that the soul doesn't leave alone." He added. 

Elsa looked into the eyes of the antelope that slowly became lifeless. 

A few moments later Bagheera slept on a branch "Bagheera?" Elsa whispered and shook him slowly. Bagheera slowly opened his eyes and yawned "How old do you think the jungle is?" She asked as she looked up. 

"The jungle was here before you were born, it has been here since beginning of time _***yawn***_ and will stay here forever." He says while trying to stay awake. 

"Do you think I'll ever be a good wolf?"

Bagheera paused for a minute "That is not for me to decide."

Elsa chuckles "What a useful answer." Bagheera then chuckles "You know what, why don't you play with the others?" Elsa smiled and quickly began to run their way as she howled. 

"Straight back to the cave! No wandering, d'you hear?!" Said Bagheera.

"Sorry!! Can't hear you!!" Elsa shouted at him. Bagheera shook his head "That child." He laughed. 

Elsa ran to the cave on four legs for a while, but when she looked back and could no longer see him, she did what he said she shouldn't do and wandered off. She sat by a high cliff, from there she had a good view of the jungle, she even saw the beautiful rivers and the great mountains. 

She heard someone calling her, Elsa went to where the sound came from "Hey, Elsa!" A wolf said that jumped in front of her "Lali!" Elsa said happily. 

"What were you doing?" Lali asked.

"Nothing."

"Hey. Do you want to play?" Elsa and Lali were then playing hide and seek with each other.

"Gotcha!" Said Elsa.

"Okay, you got me." They both laugh.

"You're really good at hiding." Said Elsa.

"Mum taught me how to hide, she shows me loads of tricks."

"What? But my mom doesn't tell me anything." 

"Well, probably because she knows you'd screw it up if you ever tried." 

Elsa rolled her eyes "Shouldn't a sister support there siblings?"

"What? I supporting you by being honest." 

"Whatever, hey do you want me to race you home?"

"Okay!"

"Good, on my call... GO!" And they both started running, but Lali ran a different direction. "Umm, Lali!!" Elsa called. 

"I know, I know, wrong direction!!" And then they both ran the same way back to their house. 

"Hey." Said a familiar voice. "Grey!" Said Elsa she rubs her head with his.

Gray was now bigger than before, he almost looks like a adult, same goes for Lali "Where were you?" He asked.

"Bagheera wanted to teach me how to hunt, and it was... delicious." They all laugh. 

"Hey, how was your lesson?" Asked Raksha.

"Great."

"Your brother told me you're getting faster."

"She can nearly keep pace with me." Said Grey.

"That's the same thing you said last time." Said Lali.

"But this time I meant what I said, you are getting faster."

"I know, but I'm gonna find a way to get even faster." Said Elsa.

The next day Elsa was with Bala, Lali, Grey and a few other wolves training with their running, the wolves runned fast past Elsa who, like all the other times, was too slow "Come on Elsa!" Bagheera said running past her. 

Elsa stopped as she looked in front of her seeing the black panther running away. Elsa was thirsty, so she went to one of the large leaves that were wet. She pulled it down and many raindrops came in her mouth but then she heard something, it was a monkey sound, she looked way the sound was coming from. 

She saw a hairy arm with a fruit in his hand, Elsa went over to it and tried to grab it, but the arm pulled away. It then appeared somewhere else and Elsa tried to grab it again, but again the arm quickly pulled away. Elsa looked up and saw half the face of a baby monkey, she climbed on the leaves and looked for that monkey who was laughing a little, Elsa was laughing too. 

But then she was suddenly pulled down again and fell on her back "You were with the monkey people again." Said Bagheera panting as he walks away. 

Elsa looked up still laying on the ground and saw the baby monkey smiling at her, she smiled back "Why can't we make contact with the monkey-people?" Asked Elsa as they both walk through the waterfall.

"The monkey-people have no law, they're unpredictable, and they can't even speak normal."

"Well, I think they're funny."

"There's nothing funny with them nearby."

"I'm not afraid of them."

"I'm not talking about being afraid, I'm talking about thinking clearly. The monkey-people are fools to think that they are not afraid of anything, the only one they all are afraid of is Kaa." 

"Kaa? Who is that?"

"Kaa is a python as old as the jungle. She sees the past and the future, the monkey people don't even dare to look her in the... Eyes." Begheera and Elsa encountered five dead antelopes, they were killed recently and were all piled up. They all had claws and bite marks. 

_What the...?_ Thought Bagheera to himself.

A few hours later, Bagheera was now at the wolf meeting "There was a pile of antelopes with lots of claw and bite marks, they were all killed and left there to be found there." Suddenly everyone started talking through each other. 

They were saying things like _“The tiger is back, only he would do something like that.” “I knew we shouldn't have let the man-cub stay.” “Let's feed the male cub to him.”_

"No!" Screamed Raksha out, it became quiet. "Akela please, she's one of us." She begged.

Everybody looked at Akela, he sighs "I will look into this problem later. Now go!" He decided.

When everybody was asleep Akela and Bagheera were talking with each other about it "Akela, the jungle is not save for her anymore."

"We can make it save."

"With Sher Khan back who knows when he's gonna gonna strike on her."

"He's is not only because of her, he's also here for me."

Bagheera was confused "Are you saying he's starting some kind of war with you?"

Akela nodded yes "He knows I'm getting too old for this, so he's trying to corrupt the pack this way." Bagheera now understands, Sher Khan knew the pack didn't like it that Akela let Elsa stay, so he uses her to slowly turn the pack against him. 

"We should bring her to the man village."

"No! I know we can protect her!" Said Akela now a bit angry.

"Then what do you want me to do?!"

"I want you to train her to survive."

"I've been trying but she is not a-"

"Then try a different way, I know that someone like you is able to do this." 

Bagheera pauses and then sighs "I see what I can do." 

The next day Elsa was with Bagheera in a large tree "Umm Bagheera, what are we doing so high up in this tree?" 

"Well Elsa, the last few years that I've trained you, I trained you wrong." 

"What do you mean?"

"I trained you like a normal wolf, but I now see now that no matter how hard you try you will never be as fast as the other wolves. So instead of making you faster, I'm going to you smarter. "

Elsa looked at him confused "What does being smart has to do with anything?" She asked.

"By smart I meant being creative. You're going to out run your hunter by using your surroundings which also means using the trees. Now with that being said, you see that branch over there...?" Elsa saw the branch, but it was really far away "You have to jump on it." 

Elsa looked at him with big eyes, astonished "You want me to... Jump?! That's impossible, the branch is too far away!" Bagheera chuckles, he then made himself ready and with a high jump he landed on the branch.

He then looked back at Elsa "Of course you can do it, you have strong legs." She said with envy. 

"At least try Elsa." 

Elsa sighs "Okay." She got ready and then she jumped as far as she could, she almost made it but she fell to the ground "Ouch, this hurts." She said still laying on the ground. 

"Again."

"What?!"

"I said again." Bagheera repeated.

Elsa moaned as she climbed up again, she jumped but she missed again. She did it again and again but she kept missing. The good thing was that every time she jumped she was getting closer _Okay, this time I get it._ She thought to herself. 

She then made the highest jump so far and with one hand she managed to grab the branch "Bagheera, I got it!" She said happily.

"I see." He answered.

Elsa grabbed the branch with her other hand and with all her strength she pulled herself up, she breathed heavily "Can I have a break, please?" She asked, holding her belly. 

"Alright go, but be back quick."

"Okay, be back in a sec." She said as she jumped down and headed toward a lake. 

Elsa drank peacefully from the water when her nose suddenly caught a strong odor, she sniffed the area around her _Something is coming. It's smells like blood, but not just blood, it smells like the same blood as the dead antelope! It's coming closer!_

Elsa panicked she was to far away from any tree or bush so she did the first thing that came up her mind, she took a deep breath and jumped into the little lake.

She swam to the bottom and and didn't move as much as possible, she looked up and above her she saw a horrible-looking tiger with blood over his mouth. 

Every time he licked the water to drink blood came from him, Elsa got a little scared and accidentally made a few air bubbles. She tried to push the bubbles back down, but they easily went through her fingers. The bubbles came to the surface and it made a noticeable sound. 

The tiger stopped with drinking and looked at the place where the bubbles came from, he looked back into the lake. Elsa didn't know if he was looking at her or not but Elsa also had another problem, she almost has no oxygen left. 

The tiger finally left, and when she was sure he was gone, Elsa went up again to take a deep breath. She quickly came out of the lake and started running. 

She ran in different directions and began to snif her area. The tiger was still close by, Elsa wanted to scream for help, but she realized that if she made too much noise, the tiger would easily find her. 

When Elsa ran in a different direction, she suddenly fell into a human trap, she screamed as she fell. Her screams reached Bagheera and he knew immediately that something was wrong with Elsa. 

By some miracle, none of the wooden pointy spears pierced her, she fell in between them all. The tiger found her and walked around the trap looking for a way to enter safely. 

But then he roared at someone and the other person also made a loud noise, Elsa no longer heard nor saw him. The only thing that Elsa saw was something that was trying to grab her, it was the trunk of an elephant. He picked her up and when Elsa was out of the trap she looked straight at the elephant. 

The elephant put her down, Elsa has never seen an elephant before. She has heard stories about them that you should bow to them, but Elsa never expected to ever come across one, so all she did was looking at him amazed how big and old it looked. 

Bagheera came running and saw Elsa staring at a elephant, the elephant walked away leaving Elsa there, still amazed.

"Elsa, are you okay?" Bagheera asked panting. 

"I'm fine, just a little pain on my back from the fall." Elsa looked back at the elephant who was almost completely gone. 

"Come Elsa, it's time to go home." Elsa nodded and jumped on Bagheera's back as he ride her back home. 


	4. Blueberries!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, sorry that it took me so long to post a new chapter, I had a lot of school work and stuff. I'm finally done with all of them so expect more chapter of _The Jungle Childs_ and _No Ice Without Snow_

Later that night Elsa heard them arguing about something, she was too far away to hear it clearly, but she was sure they were talking about her. 

Grey went to sit next her "What do you think they're talking about?" He asked.

"Probably about that tiger." She lied.

"You're probably right. I'm glad you came back alive." Grey smiled. 

"Mm-hmm, but I still want to know who that tiger was. I've been through the jungle hundreds of times, but I've never met such a beast. You should have seen his face, his mouth was covered with blood and he even had many scars on his face. "

Grey was surprised to hear that "Hmm, I only knew one tiger, but what was his name again?" 

"The name is Shere Khan." Said a voice. 

"Oh yeah, Shere Khan was the... Wait, who said that?" 

Bagheera jumped behind them "Do you know him?" Elsa asked. 

Bagheera nodded yes "It is true that you were there Grey Wolf, you too Elsa, but you probably don't remember anything about it, consider that you were a even smaller man cub back then." 

"Tell me everything about him." She asked. Bagheera went on telling Elsa and Gray Wolf about how Shere Khan was a heartless beast that kills for sports. 

When Elsa was still a baby and was brought to the wolves by Bagheera. Shere Khan demanded to take Elsa from them, but of course Akela did not allow it. Shere Khan left and vowed to come back for her, no matter what it took. 

"He came back to kill me, why?" 

"He hates man." He replied. 

"Why does he hate man so much?" Asked Grey. 

"How do you think he got his scars?" 

"Oh." Grey and Elsa say at the same time. 

"What will happen now that you know who is behind this?" Elsa asked. 

"I don't know yet, but don't worry, we won't let him catch you." Elsa smiled and hugged him "I know Bagheera." 

"You must go to sleep now, I don't want you two stay up too long." 

"Okay, let's go Elsa." And Grey and Elsa went to their sleeping place. 

Bagheera sighs _The jungle is no longer safe for her, if this continues, I'll have to send her to her own kind._ He thought to himself. 

* * *

Jack played as always with one of his best friend Terkina. "Hey Jack, did you know that the're these delicious fruits in that part of the jungle?" Terk asked while pointing at a direction. 

"Really? Show me, show me!" 

"Okay, okay, but don't talk so loudly. The place we're going to is pretty far away, but not too far." 

"Hmm, I'm not sure if we should go there." 

"Believe me, it's not that far away. And don't you want to taste new fruit?" Jack began to doubt what she was saying "What are these fruit called?" 

"Well, when I asked Aunt Kala, she said these fruits were called _“Blueberries”_ and boy where they were delicious." She said as she rubbed her belly. 

"Okay, let's go quickly before the others find out that we're gone." 

"Alright then, this way cousin." After they sneak past Kerchak and the other mothers, they went off through the trees.

"Hey Terk, didn't you say it wasn't that far?" Asked Jack after a while.

"Relax, i know where we are going." After another while of going from tree to tree they finally made it to the place Terk said she was gonna bring them. There were bushes and trees on there side and on the other side was a big river "See I told you where we were going."

"Okay, maybe i shouldn't have doub you that much. Now, where are these so called blueberries?"

"If i remember correctly, they should be at these bushes." Terk moved some bushes aside and it didn't took long before she found the berries, the both of them then started eating.

"Hmm, you were right Terk, the berries are delicious!" Said Jack putting another berry in his mouth.

"Told ya." Suddenly they both heard bushes rustling, Jack first though it was just the wind, but then he realized that the bushes were moving to faster than that the wind was blowing.

"Quickly, hide!" Terk loud whispered to him.

He didn't argue and quickly hid behind the bushes that didn't had berries on them, Terk did the same. Jack could see were Terk was hiding, she was hiding behind another bushes next to Jack.

Suddenly a big adult gorilla walked past by them, the two of them didn't move a inch _Wow, look how big that ape is._ Terk thought to herself.

The gorilla first went to the river to drink, but then he went over to the bushes where Terk was hiding. Jack first didn't know why he went over there, but then he noticed that the bushes Terk was hiding had still blueberries on it _Damn it Terkina! From all the places you could hide, you hid in there?!_ Jack thought to himself annoyed.

The gorilla started eating from the bushes, he sometimes moved some part away to get more berries, Terk tried to move back as quietly as possible without being seen, but the place were he was wasn't a really good place. 

Doesn't matter which way she went, she will be seen if she moves away from the bush. Jack had to think of something quick or else he will maybe kill Terk, not all gorilla's kill infants that aren't there's, but Jack won't take the risk.

Jack then heard something behind him, he looked back and noticed that there was a snake behind him, he could really tell what kind of snake it was but at this point it didn't matter. He moved slowly at it and grabbed him by the head so that he couldn't bite him.

The snake struckled but Jack's grib was to strong, Jack then noticed what kind of snake it was, it was a black mamba! _Yes, just what i need!_ He thought to himself.

He moved closer to the gorilla, Terk saw Jack coming and got a little scare when she saw Jack holding a black mamba, Jack placed a finger infront of his mouth clearly saying that she need to stay quiet.

When he was close enough, he threw the mamba in front of the gorilla, the snake showed his sharp teeth and hissed, the gorilla became so scared that he jumped back a few times and finally fell into the river. 

This was their opportunity "Terk, now!" Jack said as he started running, Terk followed him. They heard splashing and roaring behind them, but they kept running on all fours. 

While they were running, Jack asked "Hey Terk, you know the way back, right?" 

"Umm... Yes, I think it was-"

"You think?!" 

"Hey! It's not that easy to know exactly where to go while running!" 

"Actually, it is, because unlike you, I actually remember where we were going!" 

"Oh yeah?! Then why don't you lead the way if you know it so well?!" Jack climbed a tree and Terk followed. 

Jack was right, he really knew where he was going, the closer they got, the more Terk started to remember where they were. 

Jack was going from tree to tree, and he also was easily sliding from the branch which brought him even faster back then before.

"Okay Jack, until here I know the way back." Terk said as she passed by him. "Yeah, yeah, of course you do." He said as he rolled his eyes. 

Suddenly both Jack and Terk heard noises from behind them, they looked back and saw that the gorilla was following them and he did not look happy. "Oh come on, he follow us all the way here?!" Jack said with disbelieve. 

"Less talking, more running!" 

They kept running, not only in the tree but also on the ground, the gorilla struggled to keep up with them, especially when Jack was sliding over the thick branches "Let's split, he can't come after both of us!" Said Terk. 

And they both went in their direction, the gorilla stopped first to see who he was going after, eventually he chose Terk. Jack saw it and raced back to help his niece, Terk saw a hollow tree trunk lying on his side. She went right in, just in time, because the gorilla almost caught her. 

When Terk was inside, he tried to grab her, but his arms were not long enough. He then looked through the hole with one of his scary eyes. 

He then left, it was then quiet, too quiet _Is he gone already?_ Terk thought to herself. 

She quickly got her answer when suddenly a giant fist crashed from above, luckily it wasn't even close near her, but that doesn't mean she didn't get scared. She screamed and moved more backwards, more fists came from above, one by one. 

Terk thought quickly and pushed to the side, she did it so hard that it started to roll. She rolled down pretty fast "Ugh, I think I'm getting sick." She would've puked if she hadn't closed her mouth on time. 

He was right behind the tree, Jack followed it too. The tree bounces against a large rock that went flying straight up, Terk noticed that she was floating. She looked through the hole the gorilla made "Oh no, WHY AM I IN THE AAAIIIRRR??!!!" She said whil falling back down. 

The gorilla looked up with wide eyes when the tree trunk landed on him, the whole tree broke into pieces, a little bit of smoke came out because of the landing "Terk!" Jack said. 

He immediately went there "Terk, are you okay?" He moved the pieces in search of her. Terk then burst out of the pile of wood "Wow Terk, are you okay?" 

"Of course I am, it takes a lot more to get this monkey down." She said with confidence. 

The pile of wood that the gorilla should have been in began to shake "It looks like the same goes for him." And just as Jack finished that sentence, the whole pile burst out with the roar of the gorilla. 

He looked at them angrily, but before he could even do anything, a familiar roar came from behind them. It was Kerchak! He immediately went to the other gorilla, hitting his chest and roaring to intimidate him. 

It worked well, both Jack and Terk knew he was no match for someone as big and strong as Kerchak, the other gorilla fled quickly and left the three alone. Now Kerchak was the one who looked at them angrily. "What were you two think of bringing a male gorilla here?!" 

"We didn't intendant to bring him here." Jack explained. 

"Yeah, we didn't even know he was following us until it was to late." Terk backed him up.

"You two are lucky that I heard the loud noises." He said as he walked back. "Not that I care about both of your lives anyway." He muttered to himself. 

He didn't try to make them not hear it "Don't listen to him, it's not like he knows everything, he's probably stressed out of all the traveling." Terk whispered to Jack. 

Jack nodded, they then started following him "You know what I want? A place where we can stay instead of moving away all the time." 

"Yeah, I would like that too, but that place must have a lot of food. The only reason we always move is because after a while there is almost no food left." 

"I'm sure we'll eventually find a place like that, maybe not today or tomorrow, but we'll find it." 

Everyone was surprised to see Kerchak walking back with Jack and Terk "When did they leave?" Someone whispered "They sneaked away again?" Someone else whispered. 

It wasn't long before Jack got back to Kala, and she didn't look happy at him, she even had her arms crossed "Mom, before you say anything, I just want to let you know, it was all Terk's idea."

Kala sighs "I'm not mad at you, Jack." 

Jack was surprised to hear that "You don't?" 

"No, actually, I was the one who told Kerchak to look for you and Terkina after I found out you both were gone. I'm just disappointed that you've put yourself in so much danger. Am I a bad mother?" 

"Of course not, but I didn't even know we would be in danger, Terk just wanted to show me these new fruits she found." 

"Listen Jack, the jungle is an unpredictable place. It doesn't matter where you are, there will always a bit of danger nearby, sometimes even bigger than you expected." Jack nodded "I will let you go easily this time, but I will not next time. Kerchak said that I should be a little more stricter with you, and I will try." 

_Damn you Kerchak!_ Jack thought to himself. 


	5. An unexpected encounter

A few days have passed, Elsa was with her friends Bala, Lali and Grey, it was early in the morning so most of the wolves were still asleep. Some of them were already up, Raksha was one of the wolves who were still sleeping. 

Elsa didn't want to wake her up, so she let her sleep. She told the other wolves who were awake that she was going to play with her friends in the jungle. 

She yawned "Hey, aren't you completely awake yet?" Asked Grey. 

"No, not really, it's hard to sleep knowing that there's a beast running loose that specifically wants my blood." 

"Ugh, just talking about him makes me hate him even more." Said Bala. 

"Then let's talk about how Elsa encountered a real elephant!" Says Lali. 

"Oh yeah, how was it? Did it look very old?" Bala asked. 

Elsa thought for a moment "It was actually quite strange, he did looked old, so old that he even had some leaves and vines around him." 

"Ooh, does that mean that the're more of those elephants around there? If so, let's try to find one." Said Lali. 

"I don't think that's a good idea, because the area where those elephants might be are located with holes where you can fell into. I know that because I fell into one." 

"Wasn't that also one of the reasons why you survived Shere Khan attack?" Grey asked. 

"Mhmm." She nodded "Anyway, that's why we shouldn't go there." Suddenly a strong odor came from somewhere. 

"Eww, do you smell that?" Bala asked. 

"It comes from this way." Lali said as she walked away. 

The rest followed her, except Elsa "Wait, guys. Shouldn't we just go away from that smell instead of going to it?" But they all didn't listen. She sighs "Of course I have to follow them." It wasn't long before they finally discovered where it came from, or should I say, from who it came from. 

They ran into their friend Simba, and he was sitting in a not-so-large swimming pool that was for some reason bubbling with Timon and Pumbaa in it. "Samba!" Grey called. 

"Oh, hey guys, how are you?" 

"Timon, Pumbaa, you're here too?" Bala asked. 

"Of course, we were just relaxing in this nice warm pool." Timon said relaxed. 

"What were you doing?" Simba asked. 

"We were on our way to find out what made that disgusting sme--it's Pumbaa, isn't it?" Said Lali. 

"What? Why do you think it's me? Is it because I am a warthog?" 

"Especially because you're a warthog." 

Elsa then remembered something "Hey Timon, Pumbaa, you two have once experience being hunted, right?" She asked. 

"Um... Yes, why do you want to know?" Timon answered. 

"Because I just want to know how you survived. That's all." _Oh, I see what you are doing it._ Grey thought to himself. Bala and Lali quickly also discovered what she was doing. 

"Well, if you really want to know then you have to ask Pumbaa, you won't believe how many times a predator tried to get him." 

_Actually, I do._ Elsa thought to herself. 

"It wasn't that much." 

"Yes, it was Pumbaa, just admit it." 

"You were hunted much more than me!" 

"I am a meerkat, you are a warthog! There is no way a predator would choose me above you!" 

"I have no idea if it I should be flattered or offended by that!" 

"Guys, you went off topic again." Simba said. 

"Oh yeah, what was your question again?" Timon asked. 

"Elsa asked what you two did when you were hunted, you said we should ask Pumbaa, and then you two started arguing." Said Lali. 

"Okay, so what I always did was zigzag unexpectedly. You think I'm going to the right? Nope, I'm going to the left. You think I'm going to the left? Nope, I'm going to the right." Pumbaa laughed. 

"Okay, zigzags, good to know." 

"Guys, I have a different idea. Let's go to the buffalo, we haven't been there for a long time." Bala suggested. 

"Okay, why not? Simba you wanna tag along?" Asked Grey. 

"Okay." Simba came out of the water and shook himself dry, part of the water came on Elsa and the others. "Hey, watch where you dry yourself." Says Grey. 

"Wellp, I'm going to look for food." When Pumbaa stepped out of the pool, the _"bubbles"_ suddenly stopped. 

"Huh?!" They all say at the same time. They looked at Pumbaa who walked away and then back at the pool "Of... course..." Said Elsa disgusted. 

"Ha! Called it." Says Lali. 

A few moments later and they were at the place where the buffalo were, it was a yellow grassfield with high grass, it was a good place to play games like hide and seek. 

"Wow, this place has changed a lot since the last time we were here." Simba says. 

"It certainly did, and do you know what the perfect game is to play here?" Said Bala. He hit Elsa on the hip with his head, it wasn't really a hard one "Tag you're it!" And he ran away. 

The others did the same, only they all went in a different direction "Ugh, I hate it when he does that." Elsa used his nose "Grrr, it's no use, thanks to the grass their normal scents changed." She sighs "It looks like I have to do it the old way." She ran straight into the tall grass. 

Simba ran through a pair of buffalo who just ignored him "Ha, Elsa will never find me in her." He said panting. "Especially consider that the grass makes it impossible for her to smell me." He laughed. 

"You're right about that, but I can still hear you!" Said a familiar voice behind him. 

He turned around just to get his head touched by Elsa "Tag your it!" And she disappeared quickly in the grass. 

"Why do I always make too much noise?!" He says while he went looking for the rest. 

Elsa laughed loudly as she ran "Haha, I knew Simba would be the easiest to find. Lets see how long it will take before someone find-" Then suddenly something happened. At first Elsa did not know what was happening, it was as if the world was moving in slow motion. 

She looked to her right and saw someone leaping in her direction, it was the animal that Elsa had feared since the first time they met. It was none other than the bloodthirsty tiger himself, Shere Khan. 

Elsa didn't know what to do, it was as if she wasn't thinking clearly. But thanks to her instincts she didn't have to do anything at all, her body did already something before she even thought about it. Then the world moved normally again, Shere Khan tried to grab her, but Elsa jumped backwards and made a perfect timed back handspring. 

When her feet touched the ground, she immediately ran away _Since when can I do that?!!_ She thought to herself. "GUYS, HELP!!!" She shouted. 

Grey's ears raised "Elsa?!" 

She looked behind her and saw Shere Khan getting closer and closer _Oh no, he's going to catch up with me, I have to think of something. Wait, zigzag!_ She then turned left super fast, Shere Khan did not expect that, he stopped just in time and went after her again. 

The buffalos finally noticed Shere Khan's presence, they all panicked and ran away. Elsa used the buffalos by running past them, this kept slowing down Shere Khan, but then there were no more buffalo around. 

When he was close enough, he wanted to jump on her from behind, but before he could even do anything, Grey attacked him and bit him by the shoulder. Shere Khan growled in pain, and the other two wolves Bala and Lali also came. Elsa stopped as she watched her friends fight with the beast. 

She then saw that Grey was knocked away "Grey!" She wanted to come to help him, but then he shouted: "No Elsa, keep running!! We will stop him as long as we can!! Just go!!" 

Elsa wanted to say that she didn't want to, but she knew that this wasn't the time to argue, so she immediately started running faster than before. _Everything will be fine, everything will be fine, everything will be fine._ She kept repeating those words in her head. 

Elsa was so lost in her thoughs that she didn't realize she was in a place she'd never been before. When she came back to her senses, she was suddenly at a very big river. 

"Wait, how did I get here?" Elsa heard growling noises of a tiger that became louder and louder. Elsa had to rest, she ran for too long "I have to cross this river, but with what?" She saw something. It were very thick branches, this gave Elsa an idea. 

She rolled a tree branch into the river, and she jumped on it, using another branch as a paddle. It worked, she looked behind her and saw Shere Khan, just standing there. "I-Is he smiling?" She thought out loud. 

He was indeed, he then went into the river and started swimming "Oh come on! You gotta be kidding me!" She started to paddle a bit faster, but not too fast because she had to save energy, just fast enough that Shere Khan was at least 20 meters away from her. 

Eventually she reached the other side, when she felt sand with her feet, she quickly left the branch and ran through the water. When she finally got out of the water, she of course started running. 

A few seconds later, Shere Khan emerged from the water, shaking himself dry first "There is no escaping from me." He said with an evil grin.

* * *

Jack was one of the first to wake up, gorillas sleep for a ridiculously long time. Humans only sleep for like 8 hours or maybe even a little more, but gorillas sleep 12 hours, so you can see the problem here. 

Anyway, Jack went to Terkina "Psst, Terk, hey Terk!" Jack whispered loudly, shaking her a little. 

"Zzz... just a little longer mom... zzzz." She rolled on her other side, still asleep. 

Jack rolled his eyes "No, it's me, Jack. You wanna go somewhere?" 

Terk opened her eyes a little "Oh Jack... it's you." She says while trying to prevent her eyes from closing. "What do you want?" 

"I'm going to explore some of this area, do you want to come?" 

She yawns "Sorry Jack... too tired... you go alone..." 

Jack knew it would take forever to wake her up completely and he didn't want to waste his time on that "Alright, but if anyone asks, I am exploring the jungle." 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." And with that she fell back to sleep. 

"Okay, let's see where to go first? Hm, Tantor is probably awake too." And Jack went on his way. And he was right, Tantor was eating his peanuts "Tantor!" Said Jack jumping in front of him. 

Tantor screamed a bit, stepped back a few meters and stumbled over a rock. "Jack, can you please stop jumping out of nowhere? You know how fast I get scared." 

"Sorry." Jack laughed. "I'm going to explore some of the jungle, do you want to come?" 

"I would like to, but my mother is going to teach me how to swim today. And I'm not done eating yet." Tantor says as he put another peanut in his mouth. 

"Come on, we just be gone not for not that long. Why do you have to learn swimming today?" 

"Well, my mother says that everyone should know at least a little bit about how to swim. I hope we don't go to those dirty rivers, just by thinking about what kind of bacteria there are in there makes me just wanna-" 

"Hey, hey, hey, I don't want to lose my appetite yet, you know." He interrupted. 

"Sorry. So maybe another time." 

He sighs "Okay, but I'm still taking a few peanuts with me." Jack then took much more peanuts than Tantor expected. 

He then ran off "Hey, wait-" 

"Honey, ready for your lessons?" Says a female voice. 

"But Mom, I'm not done eating yet!" 

"Then take your food with you!" 

Jack ate the last peanuts while he swung with the vines through the jungle, he enjoyed doing that and he came to places faster than usual. "Why didn't I use this when I fled that gorilla?" After a while Jack lay on a thick branch looking up at the blue sky. 

"The sky is just as beautiful as always. I should do this more often." Jack then heard growling sounds from a great predator, he knew immediately who it was. 

He immediately went over there, he found a leopard that was about to attack a young impala. But it was not any other leopard, it was Sabor, a.k.a the leopardess who killed Jack's father. Kala told him about it, she kills everything she sees as food. Jack has met her a few times before and literally all of them ended up with her trying to eat him. 

"Oh no, you don't." Jack says jump out of the tree. "Hey sabor! How are you?!" This distracted her and in that fraction of a second that she did not look, the impala ran away. 

This pisses Sabor off, she bared her teeth at him, Jack immediately knew what she was thinking and ran off, but of course Sabor went after him. Jack went for the trees, Sabor did that because leopards are also really good climbers. 

"Catch me then if you can!" Jack teased. 

He jumped into a hole of a tree, Sabor did the same, but only half of her body managed to get it. She waved her claws at random. Jack came from the other side of the tree, he was on a different branch a few meters lower than the branch on which Sabor sat on. 

Jack grabbed a few vines that were loose and a big rock, he tied the vines on the rock and climbed back into the tree. He tied the vines to Sabor's tail, she was so distracted that she didn't even notice. Jack held the stone next to him, he then pulled her tail which attracted Sabor's attention. 

She pulled her body out of the hole, growled at him. Jack smiled and then threw the stone next to him "Byee." He said waving. 

Suddenly Sabor was pulled down and fell to the ground. She stood up and then noticed that her tail was tied to the rock, she started chewing the vines. 

"Hmpf, by the time she's done with that, I'm already far away." Jack then heard something else, it was a roar, he looked down and saw that Sabor was not the one who made it. 

He then realized that it wasn't even a roar that a leopard can make, it wasn't a gorilla roar nor a lions. It was a roar that Jack had never heard before, he climbed a few branches and he saw it. 

There was a giant orange with black striped cat running "Wow, what kind of lion is that? No, it can't be, it's way too small to be one." 

**Note: Jack has never seen a tiger before, so don't expect him to use that word yet.**

Anyway, Jack saw that it was chasing something. He could not quite see what it was because of the leaves and shrubs, what Jack could see was that it was a hairless animal with only having long loose brownish-white hair on its head. 

The animal was very slim and it had fair skin, Jack noticed that it was sometimes running on two legs, which really astonished him. 

The hairless animal ran in a tree with large roots that emerged from the ground, the roots were in the shape of a cage. 

The striped cat tried to break the roots with its paws trying to reach to the hairless animal _Oh no, if I don't do anything, that cat will eat that animal. But what can I do? I can't fight a big cat as that, it will easily kill me._ Jack thought to himself. 

Then he heard a familiar roar, he looked down behind him and saw that Sabor finally managed to free herself. _Oh yeah, I forgot, Sabor is still here. Wait, Sabor! Of course!_

"Hey, I see you manage to get out, sorry that I tied your tail to that rock. Are you still mad?" Jack quickly got his answer when the leopardess growled while climbing the tree. Jack jumped from his branch to the other branch where the big cat was under. He still didn't notice him, Jack jumped up and down a few times on the branch, causing it to break a little. 

"Okay, it seems good enough." He said to himself. He then saw Sabor coming "You know what, because I am so sorry for what I did to you, I'm just gonna stand here for you to come get me." He grinned. 

Sabor took her chance and jumped on the branch where Jack was standing, but it suddenly broke. She and the branch fell on top of the big cat "I may not be able to held my own against a big cat as that one, but Sabor can." 

Sabor and the striped cat both got up, she then saw something between the tree roots and was about to attack it, but the striped cat stopped her "Back off, she's mine!" He snarled at her. But Sabor did not withdraw, she even came closer, after they growled at each other, they started to fight. 

"Yes, it worked!" Jack then saw that the hairless animal came out between the roots on the opposite side of the tree, it started to run and Jack started following it, but from a far. 

Back in the fight it didn't last that long, the big cat was way too strong for Sabor. Finally, with his strong paw, he hit her far to the side knocking her out. 

He chuckled "Now that there are no more problems, I can finally..." The giant cat looked into the tree roots, but there was nothing, he saw a shiny hole coming from the other side. He went to the other side of the tree and saw that a hole had indeed been made there. "She managed to make a hole while I was distracted?!" This made him so angry that he roared as loudly as he could. 

Every animal in a range of about 2 miles could hear it, this woke up most animals, even Terkina "Wow! Am I the only one here who heard that?" She asked. 

Jack also heard it "Hehe, looks like the cat wasn't happy about its food getting away." He laughed. 

Jack didn't really have any trouble following the hairless animal, it was really tired, probably because of running away from that big cat. It stopped at a tree, it looked around, it was like it didn't know where it was. 

It sat down leaning against a tree and started... crying? _It's crying? What?!_ He thought to himself. 

Jack came closer _It's really crying. I though only apes could cry, I've never seen an other animal cry before._ Jack came a little bit more closer, he really wants to see the creature up close.

But then he placed his foot on a wrong branch that suddenly broke, Jack fell from branch to branch and finally landed on the ground. 

"Oww, damn it!" He said rolling on his back "I forgot to see which branch I was stepping on." He slowly stood up. "I hope I haven't broken anything, or else I have to..." Jack then realized that he fell in the same place where the animal was crying, they both then make eye contact.

* * *

Simba heard the sound of someone fighting, he went quickly over to it and saw Grey, Bala, and Lali fighting with Shere Khan. 

"Oh no, my friends are in danger, but what can I do? I'm way too small to fight against something that big." Shere Khan eventually came out victorious, he then ran off somewhere. 

"Run... Elsa..." Says Grey as he saw Shere Khan running away. 

Simba quickly went to his friends "Guys, are you okay?!" He asked. 

"Do ***cough* *cough*** Do we look okay to you?! We just fought a tiger!" Said Bala heavily wounded. 

They really didn't look okay, there were claw marks, bruises, and of course there was blood "Can you stand?" He asked. Grey was the first to try, he could stand, but barely. 

Bala and Lali both tried it too, Lali could stand and walk but Bala kept falling "Here, let me carry you." Simba put Bala on his back and started walking. 

Both Lali and Grey were limping, so Simba had to walk slowly. By the time they got back, all wolves were already fully awake. All of them were stunned at what they saw, three wolves badly wounded with one so bad that someone had to carry him. 

All wolves went over to them, Raksha was the first to ask "What happened to them?! Who did this?!" 

"It was Shere Khan." Simba answered. 

"Grey, why did you go out so early?! You know **he** was would be wondering around!" 

"We ***gruns*** We thought he wouldn't be awake around that time. Tigers sleep long." And Grey fell to the ground. 

"Grey!" Raksha said. 

All wolves started talking through each other saying things like: _“I knew this would happen.” “How can anyone be so heartless?” “He's going to get us next, I just know.”_

"Bring them inside!" Akela demanded. 

A few moments later the three wolves resting inside, sleeping "Simba, tell us exactly what happened." Akela said. 

"Well, um... I don't know exactly what happened. But what I heard from Grey was that Shere Khan attacked Elsa while playing, well, almost. If it wasn't for those three, then it was would've ended badly for Elsa."

"I see, so Bala, Lali, and Grey distract Shere Khan, giving Elsa the chance to escape." Said Raksha. 

Simba nods "At the moment we have no idea where Elsa is, that's why she isn't with us." 

All wolves started talking through each other again. Simba went to Grey "Hey Grey, are you awake?" He whispered softly shaking his head. 

"Now I am." He laughed softly. 

"Akela, what are we going to do now? The man-cub is clearly putting our lives at risk." Said a she-wolf. 

"Elsa did nothing wrong, this could've happen to anyone." Raksha said. 

"We all know that the man-cub is what the tiger wants, why don't we just give it to him?" 

"Don't you dare say that again!" 

"Or what?!" They both started to growl at each other. 

"Stop it! Both of you!" They stopped. 

"What Raksha said is right, this could've happen to anyone. What the three did was the right thing, wolves should protect each other, no matter what. What if I was attacked, or someone else here? Would you just stand there and do nothing?!" It became silence. 

"I thought so. What Shere Khan did is unforgivable, I won't let this happen again!" 

"You should probably head home." Said Grey. 

"Yeah, I should do that. Get well soon, okay?"

"Hehe, can't make promises." He laughed. 

And Simba went away, but he kept thinking about what Akela said: _“Wolves should protect each other, no matter what.”_ "I can't believe they went that far to protect Elsa, they almost died, but that Shere Khan makes me think of someone. "

Simba quickly put that though away _You don't have to think about that, let bygones be bygones._ He thought to himself. 

"Simba!" Said a familiar voice. It was Pumbaa "Simba, how are you?" 

"Not good Pumbaa, not good at all." 

"Oh, what's wrong kid?" 

Simba sighs "Do you remember Shere Khan?" 

"The tiger, right?" 

"Yes. We encounter him while playing." 

Pumbaa gasped "Did he hurt you?! I swear if he did I will-" 

"Calm down Pumbaa, I'm fine, but my friends..." 

Pumbaa saw that Simba had a hard time talking about it "Hey, hey, you can take your time." 

"So Shere Khan was after Elsa, so Bala, Grey and Lali tried to protect her. They manage to get her away, but they were seriously injured. I have no idea where Elsa is, nor do I know if she's okay." 

"She is fine Simba. I known her for a long time, she is a smart girl. She will certainly find her way back." This made Simba a bit happier. "Hey, do you know what I do when I'm sad?" 

"Um, eatin-" 

"I stuff myself with food." Pumbaa interrupted. 

"Of course. Wait, isn't that what you always do?" 

"Yes, you have to try it too, there is a termite nest straight ahead." Pumbaa started running, he stopped and looked back at Simba "You must stop worrying, because what do we always say?" 

Simba chuckled "Hakuna matata." 

"There it is! Let's go before the termites leave!" 

Simba started running after him "I don't think termites would leave their home that soon, Pumbaa!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know that Sabor was inspired by Shere Khan? Neither did I. So how cool would it be to see those two predators fight?


	6. Nice to meet you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year to everyone from the AO3 community! I wish all my fans a amazing new year too!

There was an awkward silence as they both just stared at each other _Of all the ways I have ever approached someone, this is by far the most embarrassing one._ Jack thought to himself embarrassed. 

Jack knuckle-walked towards it, he slowly approached the hairless animal, he didn't want to scare it away. Jack then noticed that the animal had small breasts, so he assumed it was a female. 

At one point when Jack came too close, the animal suddenly growled at him, showing him her teeth that surprisingly had some very sharp ones. Jack has learned from his mom that when an animal growls at you, it means he or she doesn't want you to make contact with them. 

Jack took a few steps back until she stopped growling _Okay, It doesn't trust me yet. Don't worry, this is not the first that an animal did not trust me at first._ He knew she didn't want him to communicate with her, but Jack was too curious. 

This is the first time he has ever seen an animal much like him, perhaps not exactly, but close enough. 

"Uh... hello, can you talk?" He asked taking a few steps. 

She didn't answer, she just looked at him in surprise, her head slightly cocked. Jack took a few more steps "You know, you don't have to be afraid about-" She started to growl again.

But this time Jack didn't step back, he actually came closer. At one point she stood on all fours, ready to attack him. But when she took a few steps, she tripped over herself and fell. 

Jack first stared at her _Uhh, what just happened?_ He thought to himself, confused.

Jack was with her now, she was lying on her right side, panting. _Oh, I see, she's exhausted. The fact that she can no longer stand means that she has probably been running for a while._ Jack saw that her body was slim, just like himself she had no hair on her body except her head. 

Jack took her by the arm, she was so exhausted she didn't even fight back. He placed his arm and hers next to each other, his skin was slightly paler than hers. He looked at her hand, her nails were longer and sharper than his, but his hand was much thicker than hers. 

Her feet also had long and sharp nails, but they were shorter than those of her hands. He looked at her mouth, almost all her teeth were sharp, even her two cuspids now look like small canines. 

He wanted to know something for sure, he put his hand lower and lower on her body until he touched her on her "private area" 

The way she responded wasn't how Jack expected, she moved so fast that he couldn't even react to it. She bit him on his forearm, Jack screamed in pain and jumped back while holding his forearm which now had blood with bite marks. 

"Have you gone mad?!" She suddenly shouted at him. 

Jack looked at her with wide eyes _***gasp*** She can talk!_ Je thought to himself.

"Did you really think that I would let you touch me there and do nothing?! Just because I was very tired does not mean that you can do anything you want with me!" 

Jack outstretched both his arms trying to fend her off "I'm sorry, I just wanted to see if you were really a female." 

"Of course I am a female, do I look male to you?!" 

"I didn't know what you were, so maybe you were a man and I didn't notice." 

"Wow, and here I thought there couldn't be any dummer animals in the jungle, but yet here you are!" 

"I told you I'm sorry." 

"Hmph!" Was the last thing she said before she lay down on the ground again, her legs curled against her stomach and her back turned to him. 

Jack looked at his forearm _What a bite force, and this is just a young female. What could an full grown do to me?_ "Can you... Can you at least tell me your name?" Jack asked a little hesitantly. 

She looked over her shoulder at him "Elsa." She simply answered as she put her head back on the ground. 

Jack took a few leaves and a vine, he put the leaves around the bite marks and placed the vine around it so that the leaves will stop his arm from bleeding.

 _Okay, this should stop the bleeding._ He thought to himself. 

He went to her "So Elsa. We had a bad start with each other." 

"You think so." She says still her back turned to him. 

"Let me introduce myself, I'm Jack. And I'm sorry for what I just did, I didn't want to upset you." 

There was a pause of silence before Elsa sat up straight and looked at him angrily. "To be clear, I held back when I bit you. You better not touch me there again, or I'll bite your hand off!" 

"Uh, okay." Jack laughed nervously, not knowing whether she was lying or not. 

But Elsa was lying tho, she actually bit him with all her strength. She has the softest bite of all her wolf friends, she just wanted to sound threatening to make it clear to him that he should not do that again. 

"So, Elsa, I have a question for you: Why was that striped cat chasing you?" 

Elsa was surprising to hear that "Don't you know who that is?" She asked.

Jack shook his head "No, not really. Do I need to know him?"

"No, it's just where I come from, everyone knows him. That's why I'm so surprised that you know nothing about him."

"Okay, but why was it after you then?"

"It's a long story, I don't really want to talk about it."

"Why?" 

"Because!" She quickly answered almost yelling. 

"Okay, okay, I get it." Jack then heard something, it was the sound of a rumbling stomach. It came from Elsa "Hey, are you hungry?" 

Elsa put her hand on her empty stomach and nodded yes "Then follow me." And Jack knuckle-walked away, Elsa did what he asked and walked after him. 

After a few seconds, they stood by a tall tree, a very tall tree "There are some fruit up there that we can eat." 

"Well this is going to be a problem." 

"What, afraid of heights?" Jack joked. 

"What? No, it's just that you need a lot of energy to climb this tree. And right now I'm currently unable to use a lot of energy." 

"Hmm, you're right. Alright, then you can climb my back if you want." 

"Really?"

"Of course you don't look that heavy. Besides, I was raised by gorillas, so I had to climb trees while carrying much heavier things than you." 

"Uh, okay." She climbed slowly on Jack's back, when she sat finally comfortable, he started to climb. 

As he climbed, they started talking "So what's this “Gorilla” you just talked about?" Elsa asked. 

"Have you never heard of a gorilla?" Jack asked, laughing a little. 

"No, I haven't. Is it some sort of monkey?" 

"Yes actually, but think of a black monkey that is very large, stronger with broad muscles, four very long teeth and no tail." 

"Have you really been raised by that kind of monkeys?" 

"Mhmm, so where are you from?" 

"I'm from another part of the jungle, not this one to be clear." 

"I know, if you were, I would've noticed you much sooner. But I'm going to ask you again, why was that striped cat after you?" 

"I told you I don't want to talk about it." Elsa said now a little irritated.

"I just want to know why it was after you, because every predator has his own reason. But that striped cat really has to-" 

"Tiger." Elsa interrupted. 

"Huh?"

"The animal that you keep calling a striped cat is a tiger." 

"Okay, well, that “tiger” really has to stop causing problems. I'm already dealing with a leopard, I don't want another predator here that is even bigger than this one." 

They were finally at the top where there were actually fruit hunging "Huh? What kind of fruit are those?" Elsa asked as she took one. 

"That's what you call a papaya. They are really delicious, take another one for me too." Elsa did again what he asked. 

"Do you have it?" 

"Yes." 

"Okay, hold on to that and me." 

"Why?" 

"You don't want to fall off me, do you?" Elsa looked down and saw that they were much higher than she had expected, this is by far the highest tree Elsa has ever been into. 

She held him more firmly "No, that is definitely not what I want!" 

"Alright, here we go." 

"Wait, how fast are we going dow-" Elsa quickly got her answer when Jack slid down like a fireman sliding down a sliding pole. 

Elsa screamed while Jack just chuckled "Hold on!" He suddenly says. 

"What do you mean with hold on?!" Jack then jumped off the tree, Elsa kept screaming while Jack was still calm, he even smiled. 

She closed her eyes, waiting for the impact, but it never came. It actually felt like they were swinging around. 

Jack then suddenly started yelling, it was something Elsa had never heard before. It was sort of a ululating yell _“ **Aaaaah-ah-ah-ah-aaaah-ah-ah-ah-aaah!** ”_ And then they were finally back on the ground. 

But Elsa still had her eyes closed and held Jack firmly "Is it over? Are we back on the ground?" 

"Yes, we are." Jack said smiling. 

Elsa opened her eyes to see if he was telling the truth, luckily he did. She released him and fell to the ground, she panted as if she had ran away from that tiger again. 

Jack squatted next to her "Hey, you okay?" He asked. 

"Okay? Okay?! I'm far from okay, I thought we were going to fall to our deaths!" 

"But we didn't." 

"I know! But why would you do such a thing? I almost had a heart attack." 

"What? I warned ya." 

"You said: _“Hold on.”_ You didn't said: _“Hold on, I'm going to jump off this tree so I can swing around with...”_ Wait, what did you actually use to swing around?" 

"The vines, look around you, there are a lot of them, that's why I jumped." Elsa looked around, there were indeed many trees with long vines. "But look at the bright side, you still have our food without releasing it." 

Elsa then looked at the two papayas she still kept under her armpit. "You may be right about that. But still, what you did was very dangerous, unpredictable and... and... you gotta teach me how to do that!" 

Jack did not expected that kind of reaction "Really?" He asked. 

"Uh-huh." Elsa nodded. 

"The rush that I got from falling and then swinging through the jungle was a feeling I have never felt before, I want to feel it again." 

"Well, ahem, I can teach you that, but let's eat first. Doing something is not fun on an empty stomach." He gave her a friendly smile. 

This made Elsa happy, she gave him one of the papayas. "So how do you actually eat this? It looks like what a banana and a mango would look like if you mixed them together." 

"It's not what the outside looks like but the inside." Jack then tore his papaya in two. 

Elsa looked at it, amazed "Wow, that looks really great." 

"I know, right? But if I were you I wouldn't eat the seed grains. But if you like a bitter taste, you can just eat it too." Elsa nodded, she then did the same as what Jack did and tore the papaya in half, then she scooped out all the seeds. 

They both sat down and started to eat, peaceful with only the sounds the jungle makes. And the sound of them eating "Hmm, it tastes so soft and watery, it makes me think of it as a mango." 

"Meh, I don't quite agree with you, but close enough." Other than them eating, there was again silence between them. 

Elsa closed her eyes, she just wanted to enjoy the food without feeling any threat around her. The last few days after Shere Khan tried to attack her, she was alert all the time. The only time she wasn't, was when she was back in the pack. She didn't need to fear anything there, because Shere Khan does think twice before attacking a pack with more wolves than he can handle. 

Jack was so busy eating that he didn't notice Elsa standing next to him, it actually scared him "Woah! Don't do that." 

"Don't do what?" She asked. 

"Suddenly appearing next to me." 

"I didn't just appear next to you, you just didn't pay attention when I walked up to you." 

She then started sniffing him, she did it the same way dogs do when they smell something or someone new "What are you doing?" Jack asked. 

"I'm checking you out." 

"By sniffing me?" 

"Yeah, I want to know what your scent is. So that if I ever smell your scent, then I know exactly that it is you." 

"Is your sense of smell that good?" 

"Yes, it is." Elsa then grabbed Jack's hand. "You don't look exactly like something I've ever seen before. I mean, look at your hand. It's so soft." She says while squeezing his hand. 

Jack's hands were soft because he had to knuckle-walk around most of his life. His hands become normal when he holds them up, but when his knuckles hit the ground, they get really thick. So thick that every time Jack walks on his knuckles, his hands feel the same as how his feet feels. 

"Well, if you walk on your knuckles for most of your life, your hands will become like this. But that's enough squeezing for today." Jack says pulling his hand away. 

"Okay, but I have another question for you: What kind of yell was that?" 

"Hm?" 

"When you swong us down, you know, that yelling you did."

"Oh, you mean my jungle call." 

"Jungle call?" 

"Yes, it is kind off like my victory cry. I came up with it recently, I will certainly use it one day to let the other animals know that I am coming." 

Elsa giggled a little "How did you came up with it?" 

"To be honest, I don't know, one day I just thought about it. So far I haven't used it that often, but that's because my voice isn't scary enough. But when I'm older then in the future it will strike fear to all my enemies."

"Ha! I doubt that ever happening." She said as she began to eat the other half of the papaya. 

"Hmph, you'll see. When I'm older, I'll-" Jack was then suddenly tackled by someone who had sneaked up on him from behind. 

They roll a few meters, eventually Jack landed on his back. Terkina is standing on top of him "Got ya!" She says smiling. 

"What the... Terk?" 

"Who were you talking to?" She says as she got off of him. 

"Oh, so now you want to explore the jungle with me?" He says sarcastically. 

"First of all: I already told you that I was too sleepy to do anything. And second of all: Don't change the subject, I heard you talking to someone , who is it?" 

Jack sighs "Okay, I was talking to someone. But Terk, promise me that if I introduce her-" 

"Her? Ooh, it's a female?" 

"That doesn't matter! Just promise me you won't tell Kerchak about her." 

"Uh, okay. But why exactly do I have to promise that I won't tell Kerchak about her?" 

"You'll see. Okay, hey Els--huh?" Jack just now realizing that Elsa was nowhere to be seen. "Wha? Where is...? She... She was just here a moment ago." 

"You sure? I don't see anyone but you, maybe you were talking to yourself." She chuckled. 

"I don't talk to myself Terk." _Atleast not all the time._

"Maybe you scared her away when you tackled me. Damn it." Jack said now sad. 

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to scare her away." 

"Don't worry, you just didn't know." Jack then heard something "Hey, you hear that?" 

Terk looked at him in surprise "What exactly? I hear many things around me here." Jack listened again and discovered that the sound came from the bushes next to a tree. 

He walked over to slowly it "It comes from that direction." Terk watched as Jack walking to the bushes. 

She then saw that Jack pushes a few branches away from the bushes and then gasped "There you are!" He said smiling. 

"Did you find her?" Terk asked trying to see who Jack was talking to. 

"Uh-huh." He nodded. 

Then he grabbed someone by the arm "Let me introduce you to..." He then pulled a girl out of the bushes "Elsa!" Elsa looked at Terkina in surprise, 'cause this is the first time she has seen a gorilla. "Elsa this is Terkina but you can call her Terk, Terk this is Elsa." 

Terk gasped because this is her first time seeing another human other than Jack "Woah!" She says almost stunned. 

"Eh, hello." Elsa says nervously. 

"Look at her! She looks so... different!" Terkina suddenly said excited. "There is almost no hair on her like you Jack!"

"Look at her arm!" She grabbed her arm. "And her legs!" She then grabbed her leg. "And her face, look at those teeth!" And she grabbed her face. 

"Don't get too close to them, they are sharper than they look. And believe me, I can know that." Jack says as he shows her his wound. 

"Did you bite him?" 

"Well, yes, but it was his own fault. Cuz he touched me in a place where I don't like being touched." 

"Where?" 

"The place that shows you your gender." 

Terk looked at Jack "Did you really touch her there?" She asked with a disgusting look. 

"Look, I've already apologized for-" 

"So you did do it?!" 

"I told you that I already apologized to her!" 

"Why would you do that in the first place?! I wouldn't even do that!" 

"I just wanted to see if she was a female or not!" And they kept arguing. 

Elsa thought it was funny how they argued with each other, it reminds her a lot of Timon and Pumbaa when they argue with each other. 

"You know what, forget it, okay?" Jack says ending their argument. 

"Okay. So how did you meet her?" Terk asked. 

"Well, I saw her for the first time when she ran away from a tiger." 

"What is a tiger?" 

"It's just like a lion but a bit smaller, it has no mane and it is orange with black and white stripes." Elsa explained. 

"Anyway, I saved her from that tiger." 

Elsa looked at him confused "You didn't save me, I found a way out myself because of a leopard that fell from a tree branch." 

"Yes, and how do you think it ended up there in the first place?" 

Elsa then realizes she didn't notice a leopard on that tree when she went in. "Wait, so you were the one who made that leopard fall off that branch?" 

Jack nodded "Yes, you're welcome by the way. So after I helped her out of trouble a few moments later, then we met." 

"Good story, but I have one more question." Terk grabbed Elsa by the face again. "What are you exactly?" 

Elsa tried to talk, but it was hard to understand her. Terk kept squeezing her cheeks "Terk, can you stop that? I can hardly understand what she is saying." 

Terkina let go "Wow, your sister is really... energetic." Elsa says, wiping her hair from her face. 

"You get used to it, but what did you try to say?" 

"Ahem. What I was trying to say was: I am, at least, that is what everyone where I'm from calls me, a man." 

"A man?" Terk and Jack say simultaneously. "What kind of word is that?" Terk asked. 

"I don't know, it's just what everyone calls them. What I do know is that I'm one and when I look at him like that, I'm pretty sure we're the same species." 

"So I am a man?" Jack looked at his hands. "Wow, I've always wondered what I was for years, and now that I know, I don't really feel any different." 

"Wait, that means there are more animals that look like Jack and you, right?" 

"Well, yes and no." 

They both look confused at her. "What? I don't understand, you just said there were more animals like me." 

"I mean there are more man, just not quite like you." Elsa explained. "You usually don't walk like a man, you don't talk like a man, you don't behave like a man. The reason why I didn't want to talk to you in the first place was not just because I was tired, but also because I thought you were gonna be like the man's I heard about. "

"Oh really, what do they say about our species then?" Jack asked. 

Elsa thought about it for a moment "I have never seen it with my own eyes, but they say that when a man finds you, they will put you in a cage and do terrible things to you. Or they will chain you up and bring you to a miserable place."

 _Wow, no wonder she didn't want to talk to me, I probably would've responded the same way as she did._ Jack thought to himself. 

"Don't worry Elsa, Jack is nothing like that." Terk smiled. 

"Yeah, I would never do things like that, so don't worry about it."

"What are you going to do now?" Terk asked. 

"I wanted to go back to my home, but I'm to scared. I don't know where I am, so I'll probably end up getting even more lost. Even if I knew where to go, I don't want to take the risk of an animal attacking me, I am too tired to walk even a meter. " Elsa was right, the adrenaline in her ensured that she could run for a long time, but that means that she needs to rest way longer than usual. 

"Well, if you're so tired, maybe you can... I don't know... stay here?" 

"What?!" Terk said shocked. 

Elsa's eyes filled with joy "Really? You mean it?" 

"Of course we have-" 

"Jack, can I talk to you?" Terk interrupted pulling him away from her, just far enough that Elsa couldn't hear them when they whispered. 

_“What are you thinking?! We can't bring her to our home!”_ Terk whispered. 

_“We can't let her walk around randomly, she can get herself killed!”_ Jack whispered back. 

_“I know, but we still can't take her, how do you think Kerchak will respond to this?”_

_“Oh yeah, I had completely forgotten about him for a moment!”_ Jack slapped himself on the head. _“ ***sigh*** Okay, maybe not to our home, but just a place where she can sleep and rest. Does that sound better?”_

 _"As long as Kerchak doesn't know anything about her, it's good to me, but where will we take her?"_

Jack thought for a moment _"I got it!"_

A few moments later, when Terk and Jack went from tree to tree with Elsa again on Jack's back, they finally reached their destination. 

Elsa's eyes widened to what she saw, they were by a large ocean with a small island connected to the land on which they stood by a bridge. There was a house on the highest and largest tree of the island, the house had a few other bridges that led to another part of the tree. 

"Wow! What. Is that?" Elsa asked surprised. 

"That's a treehouse." Terk replied. 

"Look how much water there is, I've never seen so much water in my life!" 

"From which part of the jungle does is this girl?" Terk asked.

"Dunno, she hasn't told me yet." 

A few moments later and they were inside, Elsa looked around, there were so many things she had never seen before. Clocks, cupboards, books, paintings and so on. The place looked messy, but Elsa didn't mind "What's this place?" 

"This is the place that my real parents made." 

"Your real parents?" 

"Yes, this is also the place where my mother found me." Jack searched some things until he found a portrait, he gave it to Elsa. "Here, these two were my real parents." 

Elsa looked at the portrait, she saw a man and a woman standing side by side with the woman holding a laughing baby "Is that baby...?" 

"Yes, that fat infant is Jack." Terk joked. 

"Shut up, I wasn't that fat." 

"Sire, you definitely weren't." She said sarcastically. 

Elsa kept staring at that portrait, she wanted to ask what happened to his real parents, but she thought he probably wouldn't tell her now. So instead she asked "Where should I sleep?" 

"There." Jack says pointing at a double hammock. "It may shake a lot when you move, but it is better than lying on the ground." 

Elsa gave the portrait back to Jack and then tried to lie down on that hammock, it did indeed shook a lot when you moved, so much that she fell out. 

Both Jack and Terkina laughed a little "You okay?" Terk asked. 

"Yes, only a few crabs." She said getting up. 

"Need any help?" Jack asked. 

"No, no, I can do this, I just have to... **woah**!" And Elsa fell again "Okay, maybe a little." She admits embarrassingly. 

Jack and Terk then held the hammock so that Elsa could go on it without falling this time "And how does it feel?" Jack asked. 

"The feeling that I'm lying on something that makes my body believe I'm floating is pretty nice." Elsa then closed her eyes and in literally 5 seconds she fell asleep. 

"What, she's already sleeping? Wow, she fell faster asleep than me when I eat too much." Said Terk. 

"She didn't lie when she said she had to rest." They both stepped out of the tree house and Jack slowly closed the door. "This is great, we have found one of my own kind!" Jack said as he climbed down. 

"What will we do with her when she wakes up?" 

"We will probably bring her back home, the reason she did not want to leave right now is because she was too tired. We'll see what we're going to do with her, maybe she can tell us more about what my species actually does." 

"Sounds like a plan to me, shall we tell Aunt Kala about this?" 

"Hmm, maybe later, but we should definitely tell Tantor about this." 

* * *

Later that evening Elsa still hasn't returned, some wolves were worried about her, others just didn't care "Mom, when will Elsa return?" A small cub asked. 

"I don't know, but I know for sure that she will return." Raksha answered. 

"But I haven't seen her all day, I miss her." 

"Me too, but I can't do anything about it. We just have to wait and hope for the best." 

"Do you think she's okay out there?" 

"Of course, she's a smart girl. She'll find a way to survive out there, I'm the one who taught her everything." This made the little cub laugh. 

"You're going to teach me that too, right?" 

"I will not let one of my cubs grow up without learning any of my survival skills." 

"I can't wait." 

"That's great, go sleep with the rest now, okay? Tomorrow will be another day to explore." The cub did what she asked. 

Akela looked from the cliff through the night of the jungle, he had many problems in his mind. Shere Khan has only back for a few days and already he has made a lot of trouble. 

He killed many animals in the jungle, severely wounded 3 of the young wolves in the pack, and Elsa is still missing because of him. 

He even made a few wolves turned against Akela just because they were afraid of him, they didn't want to risk their lives just for a man cub that they didn't even consider to be one of them. 

"Hey, Akela." Said a familiar voice. Akela turned and saw Bagheera walking in his direction "How are things going here so far?" He asked. 

"I've seen better days through out my years." 

"Okay, well ***sigh*** I want to apologize that I couldn't protect Elsa." 

"You don't have to, it's not your fault. I should've saw this coming." 

Bagheera was now standing next to him "We really have to do something about Shere Khan, letting him run free won't bring any good."

"I am aware of that, he will not get away with it, not this time." 

"What are you planning to do then?" 

"The plan is simple, the next time Shere Khan even dares to set foot on our territory again, he will feel the real power of the pack." 

"So you're just going to attack him?" Bagheera asked in disbelief. 

"When it comes down to that, we will." 

"Akela, many wolves can injured, maybe even die!" 

"Then what do you expect me to do?! Some wolves start questioning my decision, if it continues like this, fewer and fewer wolves will trust me enough to still be their alpha!" 

"Do you care more about being an alpha than the pack?!" 

"Of course not, I care more about pack than the jungle itself!" 

"If so, why are you endangering the life of the wolves?" 

"Every time we go out hunting we endanger our lives!" 

"This is different!" 

"That doesn't matter! Listen, unless you're here to help us, this conversation is over." 

Bagheera walked away, but then he turned and asked angrily: "So you're really going to do it?" 

"I will do everything necessary to keep the pack and the jungle safe. Because like I said before:" 

He turned and looked at Bagheera with determination in his eyes " **He won't get away with this.** "


	7. Chapter 7

It was the next day in the jungle, Jack was riding Tantor while Terkina followed them. 

"So you're 100% sure you've seen one?" Tantor asked. 

"I told you we did. We even let her sleep in that one tree house." Jack replied. 

"He's not lying, I was there too." Terk added. 

After a while they finally reached the spot. The tree house as you know was on a small island just a mile away, maybe even shorter. There was a bridge connecting the two lands, Tantor stopped in front of that bridge. 

Terk bumped into him. "Hey! Why did you stop?" She asked. 

"I'm not going to cross this bridge." Tantor says frightened. 

"Tantor, how many times do I have to tell you that the bridge won't break." Says Jack. 

"It's easy for you to say, if you weigh as much as I do, you'd be worried about this too." 

"Honestly, I probably wouldn't." 

"Okay, let's just take her to him. I don't want to waste my time getting him over one bridge." Terk suggested. 

Jack sighs "Fine" And he got off him. 

They easily crossed the bridge and after a few minutes they were finally at the door "How shall we approach her?" Jack asked. 

"The same way we do with everyone." Terk says as she opened the door. 

But they were surprised they didn't see anyone in it "What the... where is she?" Terk asked. 

"Elsa! Elsa are you here?!" Jack called to her as he walked inside. 

Terkina followed "That's weird, I'm sure we brought her here, right?" Suddenly a few piled-up blankets started to move, and out of them came Elsa. 

She yawns as she stretched out "Ah, there you are." Jack says relieved. 

When she saw Jack she suddenly jumped out of the pile "Jack!" She says cheerfully as she tackled him down. She then started licking his face the same way dogs do when they are happy to see someone. 

Jack laughed as he tried to push her away from him "Hey, hey, hey, why are you licking him?" Terk asked. 

"Terkina!" Elsa then tackled Terkina and started licking her the same way. "Gross, stop it!" Terkina says in disgust. 

"Seriously, Elsa, why are you licking us?" Jack laughed as he wiped the spit from his face. 

"What? That's how I say hello to friends." 

"Friends? We are friends?" 

"Well, yes. You helped me not get killed by that tiger and even gave me a place to sleep. That's definitely something a friend would do." 

Jack chuckled as he scratched the back of his head "Looks like we really are friends." 

"Speaking of friends, we weren't just here to check up on you." Terk says as she also wiped the spit from her face. 

Then Jack remembered "Oh yeah, there is another friend of ours who wants to meet you." 

Elsa's eyes went big "Really? What kind of animal is he, or she?" 

"You'll see, follow us." 

"It's a he, by the way." Trek added. 

Elsa did as they asked, even though they only know her for a day, they continue to treat her very kindly. This is also one of the reasons she trusts them. But also because she doesn't really have a choice, consider that they are the only ones who know their way around here. 

After walking back for a few minutes, they finally made it "Tantor, we're back!" Jack called out to him. 

Tantor turned around, he was looking at flowers. "Finally, I thought you would never come back." He says happy. "Don't be so dramatic." Jack says.  "Where is the new friend you were talking about?" 

"Well Tantor, let me introduce you to our new friend we've literally met yesterday." Terk started. Both Jack and Terkina moved aside "Elsa!" She finishes, spreading her arms as if she was proposing something. 

Tantor and Elsa both gasped when they saw each other "No way, you are friends with an elephant?!" Elsa asked very excitedly. 

"Wow, you two didn't lie." Tantor says, feeling Elsa's face with his trunk. "So you're Elsa?" He asked. 

"Yes, and you must be Tantor." 

"Look at you two, getting along." Jack jokingly says as he hugged them pressing their heads together. 

"Yes, yes, enough cuddling." Said Terk. 

"You want one too?" Jack asked. 

"Don't even try." 

They all started walking while talking to each other. "So what are you two exactly? Cuz Jack has been saying he's not a ape for years." Tantor said. 

"Because he isn't one." Terk chuckled. 

They all stopped at a big rock. "We know that Terk. But anyway, Elsa told me that my kind name is a man." 

"At least that's what everyone calls them where I'm from." 

"Are there more man from where you live?" Tantor asked. 

"Yes, there are. But they are different." 

"What do you mean by different?" Jack asked. 

"Like, they always walk on their back legs." 

"Always? Not even on all four?" 

"No." She says she shakes her head. "What they also do is that they wear most of their whole body and even their feet weird things, it's about the same as how you and I wear them. But sometimes theirs have different colors, 90% of their skin you can't even see."

"That sounds so cool, I want to see it with my own eyes. And you live together with them?" Terk asked. 

"What? No, of course not. They walk weird, they talk weird and use tools I don't even know how to use. I live with the wolves." 

"Um... what are wolves? Are they dangerous?! Are they aggressive?! Do they-" 

"Wow, wow, calm down Tantor. They're not dangerous, are they, Elsa?" Terk asked. 

"Well, it really depends on whether they see you as a friend or enemy." 

"So they are dangerous! Oh no, what are we going to do if they-" 

"No, no, no, no, they are usually not dangerous. Besides, an elephant is one of the few animals that a wolf would never kill, even if they are really hungry." Elsa assured him. 

"Really?" All three say at the same time. 

"Yeah, something about how they helped create the jungle and something. I don't really know the full story, but if you're an elephant, then don't worry about a wolf attacking you." 

Tantor sighs with relief "Thank goodness." 

"Those wolves sound really interesting, what do they actually look like?" Jack asked. 

Elsa thought for a moment, this is the first time she had to explain to someone what a wolf looks like. "They um... they are like... wild dogs! Yes, yes, they are like wild dogs. They are canids with long bushy tails that often have black tips. They are usually gray, but they can have white, brown or black mixed in. They also have buffy facial markings. They are twice, sometimes even three times the size of a wild dog. And they live in smaller groups than wild dogs."

"So wolves are basically just dogs?" Jack asked. 

"Yes, they are technically. But I don't know why, but for some reason they hate being called dogs. So please don't call them that, okay?" 

"Now I'm even more interested in how your home place looks like." Said Jack. 

"Okay, I've said a lot about my home, how is it here?" 

"Oh, it's great here, there's plenty to eat and drink. Every day is an adventure and we love it. Except Tantor who gets scared quickly." Terk said. 

"But you have to watch out for the predators, do you remember that leopardess fighting that tiger?" Jack continued. 

Elsa nodded "Well, she is one of the most dangerous predators in this part of the jungle." 

"You should also watch out for Kerchak." Tantor said. 

"Who is that?" 

"Kerchak is supposed to be my adoptive father." 

"What do you mean by _“supposed to be”_?" 

"Well, he's my adoptive father, it's just that-" 

"He hates him." Terk interrupted. 

"Really?" Elsa asked in surprise. 

"Yes, he does." Jack unfortunately admitted. 

"Why?" 

"Well, it's more that he doesn't hate me because of my personality, but more because of what I am. Because as you can see, I'm not one of them." 

"Is it that bad?" 

"Why do you think we didn't brought you to our home yesterday?" Terk asked. 

"Oh." Elsa says she doesn't know how to respond to that. 

"How long are you staying here?" Tantor asked. 

"Oh... well... I was actually hoping you'd all help me get back home. It's not that I don't like it here, it's just that my friends and family at home are concerned about me. They probably think that I'm dead, so I have to let them know I'm alive and okay. "

"We get it, I would've also been worried if Jack or Tantor suddenly disappeared." Terk says. 

"Aww, so you do care." Jack joked. 

"Don't push your luck." 

"Do you remember how you got here?" Tantor asked. 

Elsa thought for a moment "Well, I went through a tall grass field first, then I came through a jungle-" 

"No big surprise." Jack interrupts. 

Elsa ignored that comment "After a while I went through a big river, it was the biggest one I've ever seen." This made a bell ring in Terkina's head. "And when I finally went down the river, I came here." 

"Hmm, big river. Did you see some bushes at the end?" Terk asked. 

"I don't know, I didn't really pay much attention to that." 

"I think I already know which river you are talking about." 

A little later they were at a really big river. "Hey, I remember this river, I was here with Terkina a few days ago." Jack said. 

"I'm not sure if this is really the river I was talking about." 

"Why not? This river seems big enough to be called a big river." Says Tantor. 

"I said I'm not sure, but I may be wrong. I came here with a tree trunk, if this is the river I came from, it should be around here." 

"I'm really surprised you manage to cross this dangerous river." Jack said. 

"Well, I crossed this while being chased by a tiger without a problem, so I don't think it's really that dangerous." 

"It contains a lot of deadly animals, such as snakes, spiders and crocodiles. And don't even started with the number of bacteria in it." 

"Good, because we won't . Let's just look around and see if we can find that tree trunk." Terk says. 

And they all started searching along side the river, surprisingly it didn't take long for someone to find something. "Hey guys, I think I found something!" Tantor called out. 

They all went to where Tantor was talking about. There was indeed a tree trunk on the ground, there was even sand marks from the tree being dragged along the sand. "Wow, I think you were right because this was the river I crossed." Elsa says surprised. 

"Hey look, I found something else here, too." Jack says looking at some footprints. "Hmm, yep, those are definitely footprints of a feline." Terk said. 

"Do you think they belong to Sabor? I heard leopards can swim." Tantor asked. 

"No, not only is this footprint too big, but if it were Sabor's, you could have seen her claws on her fingertips." Said Jack. 

"Maybe it's a lion? "Terk asked. 

"No, fingers are way too thick. I think it's either a feline we've never seen before or it is from yesterday's tiger." 

"What's a tiger? I hear you two keep saying that but I have still no idea how one looks like." Says Tantor. 

"It's like a lion, but without a mane. It's orange or reddish orange, I'm not sure yet. It has uneven black stripes and white areas on its chest, neck, belly, and the inside of its legs. If I remember correctly, its roar sounds like... "Jack then perfectly imitated how a tiger's roar sounds like. 

Elsa was impressed "Wow, that sounds exactly like him." 

"Yeah, I am really good at imitating animal sounds." Jack said proudly. 

"Wait, that's a tiger's roar? That's the same roar that woke me up a few days ago!" Terk said. 

"Which means there's a good chance I'm right." 

"Wow, this tiger thing sounds really dangerous just by imagining it." Tantor said. 

"I can assure you that it is just as dangerous as it sounds." Elsa said. 

"Don't worry Tantor, we are unlikely to ever encounter one." Said Terk. 

Jack looked over the river "So far I don't see any crocodiles or snakes, are you going to use the tree trunk to get through the river?" 

"Well, if there is no other way-" 

"Well, there is!" Jack interrupted her. "Because we're going to make a raft for you." 

"What?" Both Terk and Tantor say at the same time. 

"Um... you don't have to do it, you know." Says Elsa. 

"I know, but I want to do it." 

"And why do you want to do that?" Terk asked.

"Because if Elsa wanted to, she can come back easily. Besides, I got a bit bored of all that searching and I'm in the mood to build something cool." 

"Okay, but Jack, I don't even like it when it rains." 

"You don't have to ride it, just help me make it. It's not that difficult, plus with your help we'll get it done faster." 

Terk chuckled "Okay, I'll help you." 

"I will help too." Tantor said. 

"Let me help too, I'm very good at build things." Elsa says. 

And they started to build a raft, surprisingly it didn't took that long "And, done!" Jack says as he finishes tying the last vines. 

It was not that big, it was a flat raft with a large branch with many small branches attached to it. That is the tool for paddling the raft forward. The raft was big enough for Jack, Elsa and Terkina. But Tantor can **maybe** get on it. 

"Hey, help me get it into the river." Jack said already pushing. 

They started pushing until it finally floated on the river, Elsa quickly sat down on it "Hey Elsa, can I ask you something?" Jack asked. 

"Sure, what is it?" 

"Well, I was wondering, can I cross this river with you?" 

Elsa was surprised when she heard that "Really, you want to come with me?" 

"Yes, I always wondered what was on the other side." 

"Jack, you've only known this place for like 3 days." Says Terk. 

"Yeah, and in those 3 days I always wondered what was on the other side." 

"Hmm, I don't really think that's a good idea. I mean, you do know that the tiger is still out there, right?" Said Elsa. 

Jack chuckled "Wasn't I the one who technically saved you from him? So now that I think about it, you owe me something." 

Elsa smiled, he wasn't wrong though "Hmph, okay, you can come. But don't blame me for what will happen to you." 

Jack went on it "You coming Terk?" He asked. 

"Ugh, why not, it's not like I have something better to do." And she came on it too. 

"So Tantor, are you coming too or...?" Jack asked. 

"Wait, do you really think this raft will hold me?" 

"To be honest, no I don't. That's why you should probably swim with us as I row the boat forward." 

"You lost me when you said “swim”. I'm definitely not going in there. Not only because I can't really swim yet, but also because this river is dangerous! You said it yourself! I'll just sit here and warn you all if there is danger nearby. " Tantor says as he sits down. 

Jack sighs "Okay, I shouldn't be surprised anymore." And he started rowing forward. 

As he rowed forward, they started talking "So Elsa, I realize something. The tiger chasing you, you know his name?" Terk asked. 

"His name is Shere Khan." Elsa replied. 

"Wow, Shere Khan? That's definitely a name someone evil would have." 

"Yeah, it's like his parents knew he would be evil someday. And they weren't wrong." Jack joked. 

They laugh, even Elsa couldn't even help to giggle a little. "Okay, okay, but now I have a question for you. Why is your friend Tantor so...?" 

"Scared all the time? We don't know, that's how he's been since the first time we met him." Terk replied. "We're trying to get him to do more things he's afraid of, and it's... going better than I expected." 

"Yeah, compared to when we first met him, he's become a lot brave." Jack added. 

"I don't really know how a normal elephant behaves. Because the last time I saw one was-" 

Suddenly they heard the sound of a baby elephant blowing its trunk, it was Tantor! He warned them about something. Jack then heard the sound of something coming out of the water, before he could even see what it was, the raft collided against something. 

"What was that ?!" Elsa asked, panicking. 

Terk looked and then she saw it "It's a crocodile!" 

"Not just any crocodile, but a Nile crocodile!" Jack added. 

Nile crocodiles (if you don't know) are one of the largest of the crocodilian family, only the saltwater crocodile are bigger than them. Because of their size, they are even more dangerous than your average crocodiles. 

"What is a Nile crocodile doing here? You came here safe, right?" Terk asked. 

"He probably came here later in the night, don't let him bite you!" Jack said. 

"As if we would let him!" They all went the opposite side of where the crocodile was. When the crocodile went on the raft, it nearly fell over. 

Jack, Elsa and Terkina were on the left side that was up, while the right side where the crocodile was was low and a bit in the water. 

"Take this!" Jack says as he takes the branch and tries to push the crocodile away. 

The crocodile grabbed it and easily bite it in two. Jack stared at the half-broken branch. "Okay, that was really stupid, even for you." Terk said. 

The crocodile came closer to bite at least one of them "STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!" Tantor says as he bumps against the crocodile that then fell off the raft. 

The left side of the raft fell hard into the water causing both Elsa and Jack to fall into the water, Terk only fell a little into the water but she quickly managed to get back on the raft. "I told myself I was not going into the water, and what is happens? I'm going into the water." She muttered to herself. 

She helped Jack and Elsa get back on the raft. "Wow, Tantor, well done! You just pushed that crocodile off the raft like nothing!" Says Jack impressed. "And hey, you finally learned how to swim!" Jack added. 

"Oh, thank you. I was just... hold on, I'm what?" Tantor only now realize what he was doing. "Oh no, I'm in the water! I'll die if I stay in this!" He was floundering around. 

"You will, if you keep splashing around getting the crocodile's attention!" Terk shouted angrily. 

"Speaking of crocodile, where is he?" Elsa asked. 

The crocodile yet again appeared out of nowhere, Tantor saw him and quickly got on the raft that immediately started to sink a bit. But it surprisingly got up again.

The crocodile also started to get on the raft, Jack then came up with something "Guys, I have an idea!" He jumped onto the crocodile's back without being bitten by the giant reptile. 

With both thumbs he poked the eyes, the crocodile roared in pain. Jack then pushed the crocodile off the raft with both feet. When he was in the water, he started swimming away from them with his eyes closed. 

They all cheered "Good thinking Jack!" Terk said. 

"Thank you, you just have to aim for the weak spot." 

Elsa then realizes something "Um... am I the only one who notices that we are moving?" 

"We are?" Tantor asked. 

Everyone then noticed it too, they were indeed moving. But not forward, but to the left side. The same direction the stream was going "Are we going faster?" Terk asked.

"Where exactly are we going?!" Tantor asked now starting to panick again. 

Jack looked forward and gasped. "Okay, we should all probably hold on to something."

"Why exactly?" Elsa asked now anxiously. 

"Because we are on our way to some waterfalls." Jack says as calmly as possible. 

"WHAT?!!" They all shouted at the same time. 

And just then, they all fell from one waterfall to another. They all screamed as they couldn't hang on and fell off. Elsa tried her best to hold on, but then a rock hit her on the head and suddenly everything went black. 


End file.
